13 Minnesota Residents Charged In $5.4M Medicaid Fraud Scheme

MINNESOTA — Thirteen Minnesota residents were charged in a $5.4 million health care fraud conspiracy case on Friday after prosecutors said that the group attempted to defraud the Medicaid program by submitting fraudulent claims, the acting U.S. Attorney for Minnesota announced.

The allegations were detailed in two indictments that were announced Friday and the 13 people are charged in the scheme, acting U.S. Attorney W. Anders Folk said in a news release. The scheme, Folk said, involves mental health practitioners and interpreters who were associated with Live Better, LLC, which has offices in Minneapolis and Roseville, and the Multicultural Counseling Clinic, which has offices in St. Paul, Brooklyn Park and Burnsville, according to a release issued by Folk's office.

As part of the scheme, the practitioners and interpreters submitted fraudulent claims through their respective employers for services that were purportedly provided to Medicaid recipients, Folk said. The services, however, from the mental health service providers nor the interpreter service providers were never actually provided, prosecutors allege. Some of the defendants participated in the scheme for up to three years and as a result of the claims, Medicaid paid out a total of $5.4 million to both Live Better as well as the Multicultural Counseling Services offices for the submitted claims, Folk said.

The case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, and the Minnesota Attorney General Office’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit

The following people were charged in the scheme, Folk said.

• Okach Kwot, 51, Columbia Heights, 1 count conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 3 counts wire fraud
• Elijah Kollie, 62, Robbinsdale, 1 count conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 2 counts wire fraud
• Abdirahman Yonis, 33, Bloomington, 1 count conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 2 counts wire fraud
• Alphonso Johnson, 58, Oakdale, 1 count, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 2 counts, wire fraud
• Ilyas Farah, 38, St. Louis Park, 1 count, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 2 counts, wire fraud
• Anab Awab, 50, Plymouth, 1 count, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 2 counts, wire fraud
• Ayan Mohamud, 41, St. Paul, 1 count, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 2 counts, wire fraud
• Elifaa Kinyaiya, 45, Brooklyn Park, 1 count, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 2 counts, wire fraud
• Varbar Kanneh, 30, New Brighton, 1 count, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 2 counts, wire fraud
• Eskender Yousuf, 39, Maple Grove, 1 count, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 2 counts, wire fraud
• Hodan Hashi, 52, Woodbury, 1 count, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 2 counts, wire fraud
• Omar Osman, 28, Eagan, 1 count, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 2 counts, wire fraud
• Ubah Hagi, 43, Eagan, 1 count, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 2 counts, wire fraud

Those charged in the scheme are presumed innocent until proven guilty.